


She's Still With Us (She Always Will Be)

by emrys (livingshitpost)



Series: The One Where Anduin is Trans [1]
Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Character Study, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Family Feels, Family Loss, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Loss, Loss of Parent(s), Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Minor Character Death, Misgendering, No Incest, Not Beta Read, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Post-Loss, Sad with a Happy Ending, Trans Anduin Wrynn, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, anduin! is! trans! fight me on this, anduin's birth name is taria, bc yall! are! fuckin! gross!!!, i'm putting that on literally everything i write w family members, is tiffin a major or minor character?, it's just rated teen fr some swearing lmao, oh now happy doesn't look like a real word either, other than that ? gen, pre-lo'gosh varian, reasonably happy anyway, unintentional misgendering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-23 12:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12507984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingshitpost/pseuds/emrys
Summary: this didn't go in the direction i originally planned but ! i still like it :>c





	She's Still With Us (She Always Will Be)

His son is four now.

Anduin gleefully runs about the keep, playing doctor with the guards who will indulge him. He puts flowers in the blue plumes of their helmets and practices applying bandages to their gauntlets. They listen to His Royal Highness as he gives them the sort of nonsensical medical advice only a child could come up with.

He's trying to convince one of them to eat a handful of grass when the head of the royal guard has had enough, so he's taken back inside, given a bath, and made him his father's problem again. He gives him a stack of parchment and a pen, telling him to do his own paperwork. Anduin begins scribbling official-sounding words. He spells most of them wrong.

Varian, however, carefully reads over the documents before him and responds accordingly, as much as he hates it. They go on like this for a while, but Anduin eventually gives up on writing and begins to draw, pausing periodically to show his work to his father.

"Daddy, look! I drew you and me!" He proudly holds up the parchment for his father to see.

"That's very nice, Taria," Varian says.

Anduin grins and goes back to his drawing. His stack of papers is growing short, and his father knows he'll grow restless when it runs out. Best to get this done quickly.

But Varian, too, is restless, and can't sit still for much longer. He removes a locket from a small pouch on his belt and fiddles with it in his left hand as he continues to work.

"Daddy, what's that?"

Varian turns to his son. "This?" He holds the locket up.

Anduin nods. His long blond hair starts to fall into his eyes.

His icy blue gaze returns to the locket, running his calloused fingers over the intricate carvings. "It was your mother's," he says simply.

"Can I see it?"

Varian nods, handing it off to his son.

"It's pretty," Anduin mumbles. "Was Mommy pretty?"

"Yes, very pretty. You're lucky you look more like her than me," he chuckles.

"Yeah, Daddy's not pretty." Anduin laughs. His young, uncoordinated hands struggle with the clasp. "It won't open," he says, handing it back.

"I know. It's locked."

"Is that why it's called a locket?"

"I suppose so."

Anduin kicks his legs. "What was Mommy like?"

Varian sighs through his nose, leaning back in his chair. He stares at the locket as he thinks. "She was very kind," he finally says. "Intelligent, too. She was certainly a better diplomat than I am."

"Diplomat?"

"She was good at talking to people." 

"Oh."

Anduin was quiet.

"She loved you, Taria. More than anything else, she loved you."

"I know." Anduin grips the sides of his seat and presses his cheek into his shoulder. "I wish she was here."

"Me too." Varian reaches out and lifts his son onto his lap. "But she's still with us. She always will be."

"In the Light?"

Varian isn't sure he believes that, but he nods anyway. "And in here," he adds, gently poking his son's chest. "In our hearts. In your blood. I know you'll be great one day, just like she was." He presses a kiss to his son's cheek.

Anduin smiles and wraps his arms around his father's neck. "She loves you too, Daddy. And so do I."

 _Fuck_. Varian held Anduin close. "I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> this didn't go in the direction i originally planned but ! i still like it :>c


End file.
